Randall Cook
Artist-in-Residence
- Email: randall.cook@furman.edu
- Phone: 864.294.2051
- Office: The Playhouse -- Guest Artist Office
Born and raised in Irmo, SC: Irmo Elementary, Middle and High.
Went to Furman and studied business. Edited "The Paladin" and wrote a lot.
Worked in rural Japan for two years as part of the JET Program. (First Furman grad to do so.) Team taught English in two junior high schools.
Went to grad school, half of which I did in Paris. Interned in International Human Resources at Total S.A., France's largest petrochemical company. Realized quickly I did not want to keep finding myself in oil fields, so changed directions.
Moved to New York City. Had a handful of really horrible jobs right out of the gate.
Then got a job in HR at Newsweek. Started writing my first play during my lunch hour, my weekends and eventually my holidays.
After many a draft and much development, that first play, "Southern Discomfort," ended up being produced regionally, and a new passion and career was born. Haven't ever stopped.
I'm passionate about theater and writing. Possibly too much so. Also love dogs, my husband, and my family and friends, the ranking order of which changes depending on the day.
Honors
- Finalist, Centre Stage New Play Festival, 2019
- Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) Honorary Inductee, 2017
- Selected for Last Frontier Playwrights Conference, Valdez, Alaska, 2017
- Selected for Jasper Play Right Series, 2017
- South Carolina Theatre Hall of Fame Inductee, 2016
- Finalist, National GunPlay Contest, 2014
- Selected for Dartmouth Drama Festival, Dartmouth, UK, 2010
- Grand Prize, Kintetsu Essay Contest, 2007
- Best Play Award, Southeastern Playwrights Conference, 2001
- Selected for Dawlish Arts Festival, 1999
- Selected for Octoberfest, Ensemble Studio Theatre, 1999
- Two-time finalist for O'Neill Playwrights Conference and Sundance Filmmakers Lab
- Commissions from British Film Institute, Broadway Across America, Duke
- Endowment/Furman Arts Initiative and Splinter Group
Education
- International M.B.A, French track, Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina;
- B.A., Furman University
Publications
Published plays:
- Third Finger, Left Hand
- LOVE@CentralPark.COM
- Shrinking
- American Idle: Murdering the Music
Broadcast plays:
- Sushi and Scones (BBC)
Published Magazine articles:
- "Artistic Chutzpah"; Furman magazine. Summer 2012.
- "The World’s Her Stage"; Furman magazine cover story. Fall 2006.
- "Crouching Content, Hidden Gold"; Editor & Publisher online. March 22,
2001. - "No Business Like Show Business"; Furman magazine. Fall 2001.
- "Oscar, We Have a Problem"; Creative Loafing cover story. March 23,
1996. - "Mortified on the Orient Express"; Sandlapper. Spring 1994.
- Monthly film column "Movie Sushi"; Uncommon Scents. February-June,
1993.Published work in Academic Journals:
- "Sushi and Scones," The Observer, Columbia University, Volume XIII,
Issue I. Spring 2000. - "My Fairy Tale Lady: The Treatment of Women in Shaw’s 'Pygmalion'
and Hollywood’s 'Pretty Woman'”; Furman Humanities Review,
Volume 4. Spring 1991.
Additional Professional Activities
Produced plays include (premieres only):
- Ding Dong Merrily On High, Furman Playhouse, 2019
- Toto Talks!, Frigid Festival, Kraine Theatre, NYC, 2019
- Shadows: A Dance Musical, Connelly Theatre, NYC, 2018*
- Kappa Kappa Scream, Furman Playhouse, 2017
- Pomp & Circumstance, Furman Playhouse, 2013
- Fate's Imagination, Players Theatre, NYC, 2007
- Sake with the Haiku Geisha, Perry Street Theatre, NYC, 2006**
- Sushi and Scones, Residence of the Japanese Ambassador, 2004
- Third Finger, Left Hand, Flatiron Playhouse, NYC, 2001
- Southern Discomfort, Aronoff Centre, Cincinnati, 2001
- LOVE@CentralPark.COM, Greenwich Street Theatre, 2001
Readings/Workshops include:
- The Monument (written with Cheryl Davis), Lark Play Development Center, 2019
- Hanky Panky, Davenport Theatre, NYC, 2017
- Disasterpiece Theatre Presents: Death At Downton! An Aristocratic Upstairs-
- Downstairs Murder-Mystery Parody, Because Longer Titles Are A Certain
- Indicator of High Quality And Refined Taste, Furman Playhouse, 2016
- In A Town Near Faith, Players Club, 2012
- John Gabriel Borkman, New York Theatre Workshop, 2010
- *Nominated for two 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards
- **Off-Broadway debut
- **Backstage magazine "Pick of the Week"